72004 Tech Wizard Showdown

I like a lot of things about the Nexo-Knights theme and it’s turned out some great sets. The last wave of sets were a bit of a turn off for me, with nearly every set using large, hard plastic wheels (some of my least favorite elements). Pictures of the more recent sets have brought me back.

I know that a lot of AFOLs haven’t really enjoyed the weird mix of Space and Castle that is Nexo-Knights, the theme has produced a number of fun mechs and introduced the battlesuit cockpit element that has caused a bit of a revolution in the mech community. When I first saw this set, I really didn’t believe my eyes. Could this really be a mech, piloted be a battlesuit, which itself contained a minifig? It seemed so absurd that I had to get my hands on one.

A good look at the box was almost too good to be true. A $40 set with 500+ elements, some cool minifigs and a wealth of mech building parts. There are a lot of great recolors to be seen too! Lets dig in.

Three big bags of elements, a couple of instruction booklets and a small sheet of stickers. A nice mix of colors too!

The first bag gives us 2 1/2 figs. The updated Clay has lovely colors. The bad guy is some kind of cyber-vampire and his amazing print seems to be Tron-meets-Sauron. The bad guy has a bot minion using the same basic design as they’ve used for previous good guy bots. It’s worth noting that all of their headgear are either new molds or new colors.

With their helmets off, we get a better look at the faces. Clay is fairly generic. The bot’s head shares a lot of similarities with the robot heads first introduced in The LEGO® Movie, with a slight tweak to the color scheme. The pale vampire face is nice and I can see them getting use from fantasy builders.

Each of the heads has an alternate face. It kind of looks like the vampire has eyes on the back of his head and the power button on his back is perfect.

In addition to the minifigs, there are two ‘wizard’ characters. They’re represented by these printed elements and look fantastic.

But wait, there’s more! Look at this haul of interesting elements in bag one. This set is chock full of new dark azur and warm gold elements. I particularly like those odd little transparent fluorescent green elements. They get used to accent helmets and weapons and have a cool lenticular effect that we’ve seen on a number of elements in the Nexo-Knight range. Below those are new techno-spider elements that are designed to be shot from stud shooters!

As I’d expect from such a big bag, there was a lot to build. Clay gets a simple but nicely colored battlesuit. Each of the wizards gets a vehicle of their own. My one disappointment in this build is that there are no weapons for Clay when he is in the battlesuit. Seems like an oversight.

Bag 2 has more interesting elements. This set has the beveled corner tiles in three different colors and I’m fairly certain this is the first set to have them in warm gold. The rest of these have only been in a handful of sets and notably the inverted bows are new for 2018.

The second bag builds the mech’s body and legs. There isn’t a lot of articulation, but the build is sturdy and should stand up to play. There were some interesting techniques used to lock the elements together and increase the strength of the build.

So many interesting elements in this set and the last bag doesn’t disappoint. The nexogon in dark azure is particularly enticing, but the warm gold macaroni tiles will probably get a lot more mileage. The red technic pin appears to be a new color too, which seems a bit odd, as most pins only come in a single color for reasons.

The last bag finishes up the mech. I like the shield arm better than the sword, which feels like it needs another point of articulation. The mix of colors on this model are superb!

All finished, this is a meaty set. The mecha doesn’t fail to live up to my high expectations and the secondary builds are a lot of fun too. Honestly, I can’t recommend this set enough.